Since Westpac’s lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) waiver program’s expansion to include registered nurses and midwives in October 2022, the program has assisted more than 3,600 female healthcare professionals in stepping into their own homes.
The initiative addresses the upfront cost barriers by allowing eligible individuals to purchase a home with a smaller deposit, foregoing the hefty LMI fees usually required for deposits less than 20%.
The effort by Westpac underscores the critical and predominantly female roles within the nursing and midwifery sectors.
“Registered nursing and midwifery are critical roles supporting our community and they’re also among the highest female-dominated professions in Australia,” Sarah Willsallen (pictured above), Westpac’s general manager of mortgage broker distribution for New South Wales and the ACT, said in a media release. “Pleasingly, our data shows 77% of applications under the LMI waiver come from women.”
Among the beneficiaries is Manju Sharma, a registered nurse at an aged care facility in Jimboomba, Brisbane, who migrated from India six years ago. Struggling to save for a deposit amid additional financial strains due to their visa status, Sharma and her husband found relief through Westpac’s program.
Sharma’s Westpac home finance manager discovered she qualified for the LMI waiver, requiring just a 10% deposit for a loan. Consequently, the couple purchased land in Jimboomba, now planning their dream home.
The program arrives at a crucial time when cost-of-living pressures and rising interest rates make saving for a home increasingly difficult. Healthcare workers, often stationed far from affordable housing options and facing unique financial challenges, including gender pay gaps and career breaks for caregiving, find this initiative particularly beneficial.
Westpac’s program extends beyond nurses and midwives, offering the LMI waiver to a broad spectrum of allied health professionals.
This includes tailoring loan assessments for applicants on parental leave based on their return-to-work salary and enhancing finance access for female entrepreneurs, particularly in childcare.
For more details on eligibility and application, interested parties are encouraged to visit the Westpac website.
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